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Setlist/pics/reviews etc...

Sold out show, 10 thousand people

First set

Do it again
Catch a wave
Hawaii
Don't back down
Surfin safari
Surfer girl
Please let me wonder
You're so good to me
Wendy
Then I kissed her
Why do fools fall in love
When I grow up
Cottonfields
Marcella
Be true to your school
Disney girls
Don't worry baby
Little honda
Little douce coupe
409
Shut down
I get around

Add some music
California dreamin
Sloop john B.
Wouldn't it be nice
Forever
Sail on Sailor
Heroes and Villians
In My Room
All this is that
This Whole World
I just wasn't made for these times
God only knows
That's why God made the radio
California Girls
All summer long
Help me Rhonda
Rock and roll music
Do you wanna dance
Barbara Ann
Surfin USA

Encore:
Kokomo
Good Vibrations
Fun Fun Fun

(https://p.twimg.com/Asu-3AOCAAAwuFe.jpg)

(http://distilleryimage4.instagram.com/d4e6a1929c9011e181bd12313817987b_7.jpg)

(https://p.twimg.com/Asute_5CEAArSDV.jpg)

I wonder if that means the new Beach Boys slot will debut at the Sands Thursday?

By the way, is it me or does the band look like they're in wax there?  :lol

Incredible show so far! We're at intermission. I should have the set list posted soon. It's pretty similar to the other shows. Brian and Mike are in rare form.

Fantastic, thanks!

First set

Do it again
Catch a wave
Hawaii
Don't back down
Surfin safari
Surfer girl
Please let me wonder
You're so good to me
Wendy
Then I kissed her
Why do fools fall in love
When I grow up
Cottonfields
Marcella
Be true to your school
Disney girls
Don't worry baby
Little honda
Little douce coupe
409
Shut down
I get around

Marcella!

Thanks man, added to OP

Looks like The Little Girl I Once Knew got the axe for good :(

They seem to be having a great time. I wonder if Mike made any on-stage joke about Bruce's recent political affair.

Show just ended, I'll have the second set list up in a bit.

Second set:

Add some music
California dreamin
Sloop john B.
Wouldn't it be nice
Forever
Sail on Sailor
Heroes and Villians
In My Room
All this is that
This Whole World
I just wasn't made for these times
God only knows
That's why God made the radio
California Girls
All summer long
Help me Rhonda
Rock and roll music
Do you wanna dance
Barbara Ann
Surfin USA

Encore:
Kokomo
Good Vibrations
Fun Fun Fun

Generally there were no surprises tonight as far as the set list went. I'll have more of my reactions later tonight.

My first official Beach Boys show. No complaints from me. Think  I'll get lawn seats for the PNC Bank Arts Center.

Thanks!

Get any video?

This was my first Beach Boys show of any sort.

Maybe a little ragged, vocally, for the first few songs. But they just knocked 'em out, one after another, until they got there. And it was still always great.

My highlight was Disney Girls. And TWGMTR.

Autotune? Didn't matter. Perfect.

Mmmmm Marcella.

My first BB show ever. I had the VIP upgrade which I'll post about in the VIP thread. Just about the show though- I was in the very last row in the entire arena (bought thru tucketmaster as SOON as they went on sale - how the flippin fudge do you buy decent tickets??? It's a mystery to me). Its a much more removed experience both visually and sonically as opposed to the ground floor (which i got to experience during the soundcheck access, which was the main benefit of the VIP upgrade along with a photo with the band). But having said that, it was an AWESOME show.  So freakin good!!!!!!!! EVERY single song sounded amazing except one: Kokomo!! Which I like, but it just sounded very flat, like the band isn't into it or something. And Carl's voice on that is sorely, sorely missed. Anyway, it was great. The band was so good (especially cowsill and Nelson Bragg).  And the harmonies were pitch perfect. ALL the beach boys sounded GREAT on their lead vocals including Brian!! This whole stupid debate about auto tune is absolutely ridiculous. Even if it is auto tuned no one except an audiophile would notice. 99.9% of the audience can't tell, including me. Was soooo glad they added Marcella and add some music. I was worried because they included add some music they'd drop this whole world, but alas, they kept it in!! WAY too many covers (even though I realize they were covers that they had recorded themselves). I can't believe Mike nor anyone else plugged the new album!!! It's mind boggling. Why wouldn't you take the opportunity to tell your audience about it?? I just don't get it. One last thought (for now at least) - as a fanatical fan, I was disappointed that the setlists were so "oldies" heavy and didn't have more deep cuts and basically have nothing post holland except the rock and roll music and California dreaming covers, but having seen and experienced the concert, i realize now that they actually hit the perfect mixture. The fact is that although they have a ton of hits that everyone knows, there's really only a fraction of the audience that knows anything outside those hits. Realizing that now, its actually very impressive and very cool that they really have gone out of their way to include a diverse setlist and appease their hard core fans. Anyway, I just wanted to share for what it's worth. Bottom line - I definitely have some minor complaints, but overall it was an absolutely outstanding show, and it exceeded my already high expectations. They really were nearly flawless performances. So good!!!!!

Well, it's not out for another three weeks. It would be strange to really pitch something that's not available yet. When it's out, I bet you'll have to listen to a five-minute routine from Mike!

Couldn't he have just said something to the effect of "our new album, TWGMTR, is out June 5th! You can preorder now on amazon.com!" It's not the end of the world, but I bet a lot of people in that audience tonight don't know a new album is coming in a couple weeks, and theyre exactly the folks that you would want to tell, seems to me...

I bet most of the people in the audience don't know how to do that, let alone Mike.  ;D

However, yes, some mention would make sense. I know he's done it in past shows.

He did mention it. Right before they played the song.

Really? Guess I missed it. Sorry!

OK, just got back from the show. A few thoughts.

No I didn't get any video. This was a historic concert and getting tickets to it happened to be a birthday present from my father. Given those circumstances, I wasn't overly concerned about viewing any portion of the concert from the lens of my iPhone or anything like that. I remember about a year ago at one Mike and Bruce show, I nearly got my head taken off by one neanderthal security guard who didn't take kindly to me trying to record a few songs with my camera. I wasn't about to relive that experience. However, plenty of people in the audience did have their camera phones out, so I'm sure that some audience recordings will start to trickle out soon.

The band was in top form tonight. Mike and Brian sounded particularly amazing. I saw both of them at concerts last year, and I don't remember either of them sounding nearly as good as they did tonight. Al sounds spectacular, as he always does. David Marks took the lead on Hawaii and sounded good overall, although there were a few times I thought he sounded spotty. Bruce sounded okay, but out of all the original surviving Beach Boys, his voice is in the worst shape in my opinion. The backing band was incredible, like they always are, and I thought John Cowsill and Scott Totten blended nicely with Brian's band.

The set list was pretty much what I expected it to be, given what I've been reading on this board for the past few days. They did drop Come Go With Me from the first set, but other than that it was pretty much what they've been doing for the past couple of shows.

Brian's voice sounded AMAZING. He obviously has lost a lot of his range, but he still sounds like Brian. Tonight was the first night I actually heard bits of his old voice come through. It sounded sweet. I haven't heard sweetness coming from Brian's voice since the early 70s. But tonight it was there. But boy, did Brian look out of it when he wasn't singing. When he was actually given something to do on stage, he looked and sounded good. But during the long periods where he wasn't singing leads, he looked lost.

I loved the car suite at the end of the first set. Those are some of my favorite songs, and the crowd loved them! The band was at it's high points tonight singing those songs. Throughout most of the concert, the crowd seemed really into it. They were up on their feet, moving and dancing with the songs. The two exceptions were during Disney Girls and TWGMTR. The crowd seemed especially motionless during TWGMTR. I could only guess that a lot of people hadn't heard the song before. Mike did plug the new album, but not in an obvious way. He mentioned the song was off their new album by the same name, but didn't mention anything about a release date, so it wasn't like it was an obvious advertisement or something.

There was NO autotune, at least to my ears. I paid special attention to Brian's vocals just to see if I could spot anything weird going on, and honestly I didn't hear anything suspicious. There were three mega Jumbo-Trons in the arena that had live feeds of what was happening on stage, and I had a pretty good view of the stage anyway without them. I could see and hear everything that was going on perfectly. There was no delay between any of Brian's vocals and what was being broadcast on those screens, and honestly I didn't hear or see anything that might suggest pitch correction was being used. I asked my father, who has been going to concerts for nearly 50 years, if he had heard anything suspicious, and he told me no. He didn't think there was any live autotuning or pitch correction.

During the encore, the band didn't sound as good for some reason. Maybe they were just tired by that point, but Mike and Al clearly were distracted when they were preforming Kokomo and Fun Fun Fun. A little boy, maybe around 8 years old, went up in front of the stage during the encore and was motioning for Mike to sign an autograph for him, while the concert was still going on. Security didn't intervene, but the boy should of just waited until after the show. Right after Fun Fun Fun ended, Mike finally gave in and signed one of the beach balls that was being tossed around in the audience for him.

Great show!! SO glad I went. I was in the upper tier. I think Marcella was earlier in the set, not after Cottonfields and Forever was not after WIBN but a few songs later. Couple of things:
 
1. Mike's vocals were ragged on the first few songs. Either they made an adjustment to the mix or he got stronger because by the car songs, and into the 2nd set he was the best I've heard him in my 20+ years of BB concerts.  It was the best version of R and R Music I've ever heard!

2. Brian seemed into it much of the concert , during the first set I think Wendy motioning toward the band and I was surprised to see him get into Sail on Sailor so much. It was great! He was in VERY good voice tonight. IJWMFT was fantastic and I think it was Al and/or Jeff echoing him at the end was just awesome! I can take or leave Marcella, it's just not one of my favorite songs  but the performance of it was good. I was also shocked to see how much Brian loved singing Cal. Dreaming. I never would have guessed it. He was awesome on his part and sang background vox the whole time.

3. Al was in SUCH great voice! Nailed Cottonfields and TIKH and Cal. Dreaming.  He needs another  lead vocal in there somewhere.  It was too much Jeff  and not enough Al on WIBN. No one phrases that song like Al! I like Jeff as a singer ( I know that's forbidden on this board  ::) but don't care for his take on WIBN so would have liked Al louder.

4. Bruce was raspy on Wendy but simply nailed Disney Girls!  Dave was awesome on guitar solos and lead on Hawaii. He also needs another lead vocal in there. I would like to see him on Wendy.

5. The Add some Music at the piano just freaking awesome. Pretty much Brian and Al taking most of the lead. So touching and a great moment. Wish they would have done another one like that. It was perfect for Graduation Day then! In My Room was phenomenal , best I've ever heard it live. All This Is That also exquisitely done. The tributes fit nicely.  I need to see another show on this tour!!!

Finally got home. Amazing show. As close to perfect as you could possibly expect. The car medley at the end of the first set was one of the strongest points. David Marks stood out to me, he's an absolute monster on guitar. Incredible leads and solos throughout the night.

I agree that Bruce's voice is probably the weakest of any of the Beach Boys at this point, but he certainly had strong points as well, especially the end of Disney Girls. Also, did he flub the first line in Wendy?

Mike's voice seems weak when he tries to hit a higher octave, but he sounds great on all the "hits."

Al sounds just as good as he did back in the 60s. It was awesome hearing him sing Cottonfields, Help Me Rhonda, Wouldn't It Be Nice, etc.

If there was autotune, it was minimal. Maybe on TWGMTR. Brian was hitting some high notes that I'm not quite sure if he can hit... and it wasn't just because Jeff was doubling him. I might have been imagining it, but Brian almost looked at Jeff annoyed when he doubled him at the end on TWGMTR on one of the verses. Like a "Hey, I can do that on my own, thanks" look.

Don't Worry Baby is my favorite Beach Boys song, but I really wish Jeff wasn't taking lead on that one. I'd much rather hear Brian, Al or Bruce do it.

The backing band sounded great, Mike was funny and a great front man and the crowd was really into it. Two funny moments were Mike telling everyone to buy merch during the intermission and Bruce telling everyone to come back for tomorrow's show. It was almost like they were reverting back to their pre-Brian tours. Hey guys, you don't need to do that anymore...

No Stamos, but I wouldn't have minded if he were there.

Edit: Had some great seats. I originally had balcony, but saw there was lower level available a few days ago with "possible obstruction," no complaints here:

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I agree, the car medley had a ton of juice! Not sure if Bruce messed up a line but  Mike flubbed a verse in Little Honda. I think that's the first time I've ever heard him do that. He laughed at himself and kept going. I thought he would make a self deprecating joke about it but he didn't.

I like most of the covers, but I think California Dreamin' needs to go before I see the show again in June. It feels a little out of place especially so close to the top of the 2nd set. I know it's another song Al gets to sing lead on, but there's plenty of songs he can sing lead on that they could add.

Is there any reason Al couldn't take Darlin'?

I hope they replace "California Dreamin" with either "California Saga" 'Honkin' Down The Highway" or "Lookin At Tomorrow"...problem is...those songs are rather obscure cuts.  Still though, it'd be great if they gave Al a more significant song to sing instead of that cover.

It does seem like an odd choice, but Al and Brian sounded great on it and Brian was VERY into it. I think that's the reason it's in there. He and Al both enjoy doing it. That was one time I could hear him actually doing background vocals. Two women next to me (neither of whom were big fans based on their conversations) thought that song sounded the best oddly.

In a perfect world,  I'd say sure keep the song in the set...just give us one more good song for Al to sing lead on--which brings me to the three I suggested earlier ("California Saga" "Honkin Down The Highway" or "Lookin At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song").  Brian sounds pretty good on "California Dreamin" but aside from the California connection, I don't see a reason why it would have to stay in the set.  

I love California Dreamin, and I love the guys' version of it. The song was a reasonable hit for them in the '80s (one of their most recent), so I'm glad it's there.

IIRC Brian actually arranged and sang almost all the backgrounds on the record (they were sped up, so it doesn't sound exactly like him). So he has a history with the song, and has likely never gotten to perform it live.

That being said, out of all the covers, I think they should drop Why Do Fools Fall in Love. That and DYWD. Neither is important to the group's history, and they don't loom as big hits to me, although I'm guessing they did well.

I saw Brian in 1999 and 2000, but this was my first Beach Boys show – kicking myself for never seeing them when Carl was alive. It was a tremendous show. I agree with what a lot of the posters said. Here are some thoughts of mine.

Mike kept his banter in check for the most part. (One of the reasons I didn't see the band after I truly got into them around 1990 or so was seeing clips of Mike and the cheerleaders, etc. It was my loss that I didn't go and see the great Carl Wilson). Tonight the only time he was truly corny was on the "Wheeeeeeeeen" for Be True to Your School, when he went to one knee and had Al and David help him up. Otherwise he was good, and I think it helps Brian to have Mike running the show, because Brian didn't speak at all.

Bruce was hard to hear doing the lead on Wendy. He was better on Disney Girls, but I agree that his voice is the weakest.

David sounded good on Hawaii and was terrific on guitar. I've said repeatedly, this is great that he's a part of it.

Al sounds EXACTLY the same as he did in the 60s, and that's a very good thing. I think Help Me Rhonda got the biggest reception of the night.

Brian started a little slow, but picked up quickly. A surprise highlight to me was his vocal on You're So Good to Me. He really was into it and gave a very strong performance on it, maybe his best one of the night, and that's saying something.

I couldn't tell who was signing Carl's part on All This Is That. I thought it would be all, but it wasn't. I wonder if it was someone in the back. Jeff (who sang the Jai guru dev" ending) and Scott Totten were the only ones besides the five Boys in front, but I don't think either of them sang it.

Add Some Music was a highlight with the five of them around the piano.

The backup band was excellent, as expected, and, sorry haters, Jeff sounded excellent.

If you have a chance to see this tour, go see it!

Hey Sound of Free, thanks for your excellent review. It's Darian who sings Carl's parts during All This is That.

And Brian.

Yeah. It stays too high a lot of time. And Al doesn't have that high A#. Unless you want Jeff to cover that for him. I don't.

Great to read so much praise for the car medley! Up until some time it was thought to be the epitome of dull.

Regarding Bruce's weak voice... He has his days. But he is mostly a backup singer, and is great at it. His tone has not  changed much, he's never been a strong lead and his voice was always the softest in the band. Sounds pretty much like his young self still.

Went last night as well. My first BB show since Carl died. I've seen them many times and this was my favorite show of them all. Let me tell you, this is not a band on auto pilot. They are putting a lot into these gigs, and it shows.  I also bought my tickets 10 mins after they went on sale and ended up in the back corner in the last row! What's up with that. No big deal though. Took my 14 year old son who is a casual BB fan, and he was very impresed (and I don't have to tell you the crap he listens to).
This is a crakerjack backing band they have. I could feel Cowsill's energy from the back row.
Cousin Brian seemed like he wanted to shuffle off to the casino to go sit down and play Keno. He didn't seem to want to be there,in my opinion, but that's just Brian and I thought he did a fine job with all his parts and it was great to have him in this show. Mike was great. He's really proud of this milestone and I think it comes out in his performance.  As everyone has been saying, Al is superb. During Cottonfields, when he sang the line "a nice old man with, he had a hat on", he pointed at Mike, and MIke just laughed. Great to see those two together again. The touring Beach Boys need Al Jardine. As others have said, Bruce seemed really weak on Wendy. So much so, I thought that the Secret Service may have paid a visit to him before the show. But he really rebounded on Disney Girls and hit it completely out of the park. That may have been the best number of the night in my opinion. Dave is the only one I had never seen before with the BB's and simply put, he rocks. He also ups the coolness factor by about 10.
The Dennis and Carl songs were fantastic, and very very sad. You do feel their presence though. A great addition to the set, and reminds you that this is no ordinary BB concert.

Add Some Musinc was a terrific way to open the 2nd set, all 5 of them around the piano. During the song, Mike opened his mouth to sing his "at a movie" line and Brian sang it. I think that surprised Mike  ;D
I don't know what the future holds for these 5 as a unit, but if they don't continue together, they are doing right by themselves, and their fans on this tour. I really hope they do a great job with the DVD so the true fans who cannot see this show in person get to expierience it some how.
Fortunatlely for me, I have two more shows to go. Can't wait.

Whether they go on or not, it won't get any better than this.

Go to one (or more) of these shows if you possibly can.

The show just kills and keeps going and going right to the end.  Overwhelming in the best way.

A few more things about last nights show:

During Be True to Your School, the main Jumbo-Tron showed the UConn logo, which got everybody in the audience cheering. I'm currently a student at UConn, and given the general age of the audience (60+), it's likely that I was the only UConn student in the audience. Mike Love became aware during the number that somebody had programmed the screen to show the UConn logo during the number, and referred to it as "sabotage." That really made me smile, hearing one of my musical heroes mentioning my school by name during the concert.

Doing Add Some Music around the piano with Brian was, like many posters have pointed out, touching. It was really sentimental and nice to see. It was mostly Brian and Al singing the lead, with the rest of the group doing background vocals.

Jeff Foskett sounded particularly whiny during TWGMTR. There were a few rough spots during that song. However, Jeff sounded better than I ever remember him sounding the rest of the night.

I think Brian's best vocal was You're So Good to Me. That's really a track that stands out to me.

Dave's guitar solos were awesome. He added some nice touches to a couple of numbers. He was really excellent.

Thanks for all your reviews ! Man, I can't wait to see them ! What a fantastic setlist and - judging from youtube and reviews - how great they do sound !!

Thanks, GuyO and Wirestone. From the angle of my seats, I could SEE Darian but had a hard time telling if he was seeing. It's great that Brian was also signing.

Scott M, glad to see you agreed Brian was great on You're So Good To Me. I also went to UConn, Class of '87. Go Huskies – although next year will be a little tough.

Yeah, Calhoun should have just retired after last year's championship. That was my senior year (I'm a grad student now), and luckily I got to see that team in person.

I had such a good time at last night's concert, my family was thinking of buying tickets to tonight's show as well. But we can't find good enough seats, so I guess we're skipping it. :(

Edit: Err, scratch that. Looks like I'm going to tonight's concert too. ;D

Enjoy it, Scott.

Waiting for Saratoga. I am so excited.

Change the key. I don't even think that's within Jeff's range - not even his extremely iffy "I can still sing high notes! I swear!" range.

Same here!

Bunch of videos here

http://www.youtube.com/user/lexingtonsband (http://www.youtube.com/user/lexingtonsband)

Me Three!

Brian sounds AMAZING on YSGTM. No wobbling voice, and when he hits a bum note you can tell its natural!

Man, so cool  ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh-u91pCry0

Have we seen video of "This Whole World" yet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WER04t6oN2Y&feature=relmfu

Awesome. Definitely no autotune there, either.

Yeah I noticed that Brian's vocals seemed pretty raw...sounded pretty good.

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